First Contact (Galactic Axia Adventure) by Jim Laughter Read Free Book Online

asked.
    “Five hundred and thirty-two,” the man answered. “I managed to segregate the signals that we knew were naturally occurring. That cut the total by over half.”
    “So you’ve got the rest ready to decipher?”
    “Yes, but it’s going to take a while longer to determine exactly what we have.” Disappointment and frustration swept through the small group.
    “Well, keep at it,” Garret announced firmly. “We know we’ve got something. We only have to determine what or who it is.”
    ∞∞∞
    The small patroller sat on the concrete apron. Its battered skin easily shed the falling drizzle. The flight examiner waited patiently in his slicker while the student pilot checked over all of the outside surfaces and fittings on the little ship. He noted with satisfaction the care with which the student checked the bedspring array at the rear of the ship. After that, the student double-checked the operation of the airlock and signaled the waiting examiner.
    “The ship’s outside condition is flight ready, sir.”
    The examiner made a note on his clipboard and Delmar began to sweat in spite of the cool weather. “Permission to board, sir?” the examiner asked. On check rides the student being examined acted as captain.
    “Granted,” Delmar replied nervously. The examiner boarded the ship and Delmar tried to figure out why he was so nervous. He had hundreds of hours under his belt flying and landing these ships. Flying, it turned out, came natural to him. Even during the earliest lessons he’d rarely been nervous. Now I’m sweating like a Red-tail!
    Delmar entered the ship and secured the hatch behind him. Checking its integrity, sat down and buckled into the control chair. “Please secure for take-off,” he said to the examiner who buckled into his observer seat in response. Delmar was glad that another student had tipped him off to that little trick. More than one student had lost points by not making sure his passenger was safely buckled in.
    Satisfied, he’d just reached for the comm unit when he heard the examiner again writing something on his notepad He couldn’t imagine anything he’d missed in his preflight inspection. Deciding that there was nothing he could do about it now, Delmar continued his preparation for the flight.
    “Rodar Control,” Delmar said into the mic. “Patroller T-887 requesting permission for lift-off and flight maneuvers in the Rodar system.” He waited for the response and the silence seemed interminable.
    “Patroller T-887, Rodar Control,” the controller replied. “Your flight plan is approved and you are cleared for lift-off and the requested flight maneuvers.”
    “Thank you, control,” Delmar answered. “T-887 out.” Delmar advanced the throttle and adjusted the axis ball for vertical motion. The ship lifted smoothly into the falling drizzle and then shot skyward. When they were clear of the atmosphere, Delmar set their course to their approved heading.
    “Take us out toward the asteroid belt,” the examiner said. Delmar nodded. After clearing the change with control, he vectored the ship toward the designated area.
    “We should arrive there in about five minutes,” Delmar reported.
    “That’ll be fine,” he answered, not looking up from his notes. Delmar settled back while the ship virtually flew itself. This was the hardest part of flying—waiting. Have an examiner in the ship that remained silent was also nerve wracking. The silent minutes turned into days. He’d much rather have the examiner telling him everything he was doing wrong instead of just sitting there writing on his notepad. To keep himself occupied, Delmar scanned the sensor screens for any sign of other ships.
    When the asteroid belt appeared several minutes later, the examiner again spoke. “Bring us in on a standard survey loop and then land us on that large asteroid over there,” he said, pointing at a large piece of barren rock ahead of them.
    “Acknowledged,” Delmar replied.